Splice-bar for rail-joints.



W. P. &` S

SPLIO z TEO DN. R F011 R41 Jol Tsg..

FILED MAY lll,A 1907 E. BA

Patented 00u19; 1909.

l UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

WILLIAM P. THOMSON AND SAMUEL e. THOMSON,

F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIG'NORS TOTHOMSON-THOMSON COMPANYLOF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

A FARTNERSHIP.

U sonY and SAMUEL G. THOMSON, of Philadelwhich phia, Philadelphiacounty, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Splice-Bar forRail-Joints, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had -to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in which- Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, aresectional views illustrating-different forms of splice bars embodyingour invention.

Our invention has relation to splice bars for railway rail joints,having downwardly and outwardly inclined upper members, and is designedto provide a splice bar having certain novel features of constructionwhich, together with the advantages arising therefrom are hereinafterfully explained, the essential feature of our invention consisting instrengthening the uppervmember by adding metal on the inside of the barbelow the top of the bolt holes and on the outsideV by providing asubstantially vertical bolting face on the bar itself as rolled withoutthe intervention of a bevel washer; this improvement of merging thebevel washers, hitherto required, into the bar itself` and thus providea substantially vertical bolting face on the bar, derives greatimportance as an improvement from the fact that the elemination of theupward slipping tendency of the metal providing` metal formerlyconstituted a washer), makes it possible in this improved constructionto secure a more eliicient coact-ion of the truss-member, lying betweenthe head and foot of the rail, with the short foot-member. which isinclined downwardly and outwardly from this upper truss-member. Theimportance of this increased ellicicncy is proven in practice and byexhaustive tests because it has been conclusively shown `that theweakest point of all types of bars, having an upper truss-member and anoutwardly extending loot-i'ncmbcr has been at the junctme of these twomembers. Under our former patent, we reinforced the bar by moving thisjunctlu'e-point outwardly toward the edgel ot' the rail base,

' which necessitated a downwardly and outwardly inclined uppertruss-member; but our present `nnprovei'nent has .so greatlystrengthened the upper chord `of the upper Specilcation of LettersPatent.

a vertical. bolting face' sPLIcE-BAR Eon ,EAIL-JoINTs.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

. Application led Mayill, 1907. Serial No. 373,062.

truss-member that still greater efficiency in the coaction of the uppertruss-member and the outwardly extending foot-member is required` andthis increased eliiciency we secure by joining the substantiallyvertical bolting face with the upper surface of thc outwardly extendingfoot-member by means of a fillet which acts as a brace against anydecrease in the degree of angularity between these two faces asoriginally rolled on the bar. lt is essential that this fillet shall notbe. rentrant, but shall, on the contrary, lie entirely within the angleof closest'. proximity of these two faces. 'Ihe extent of thereinforcing metal added to form this fillet depends upon how greatly theupper chord of the upper truss-member of the. splice bar has Abeenreinforced, and also upon whetl'ler the splice bar is provided with areinforcing flange extending below the rail base from the outer edge ofthe aforementioned short foot-member, as it will be readily apparent ytoany one familial' with the art, that the greater the carrying capacityof the bar, by reason of increased efficiency of the upper chord of theyupper truss-member and a balancing efficiency due to the use of a. lowertruss-member in the form of a freely extending flange below the railbase` the greater in extent the reinforcing fillet will have to be.

Referring to the drawings, the nmneral 2 wherever seen designates theupper member of the bar, 3 the foot portion which tits the upper surfaceof the rail base, and Ll the lower or depending member. ln all the formsshown, the upper member 2 has ils bolting face in a, substantiallyvertical position. In the form shown in Fig. 3, the depending member elis omitted. lu the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the bar 2 hasno depending member extending below the base of the rail, but terminatesabove the bottom face of the rail. The form of the bar is otherwise, ingeneral, similar to that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 also illustrates theuse of an inner coacting bar 5, fitting between the head and baseportions of the bar 2 and the head and base of This member 5 may beeither metallic or of insulating character. In the figure, it is shownas composed of metah Splice bars embodying our invention although shownas applied to the ordinary T- rail, may be applied to any type of rail.-

the rail.

or other bearing members are interposed between portions of the bars andthe adjacent bearing surfaces of the rail. It will be further understoodthat the variousA forms shown are illustrative only, and that variousother modifications in the form and sectional shape ofthe bars may bemade, provided the essential feature of our invention is retained, viz.,the provision of a vertical bolting 'face on a downwardly and outwardlyinclined upper member. The fundamental principle of this reinforcementof a downwardly and outwardly inclinedupper member residesv in the factthat the upper portion of the outer face of the bar as rolled liesvertically above the lower portion of said outer face, thus securing amuch lighter and stiffer member than can be attained in any other way.This method of reinforcement increases the bulk of the metal near thetop where it is most eliieient and at the same time it retains the meritof the downwardly and outwardly inclined upper member in eliminating thebuckling of the foot member; this combination of increased elticiencycan not .otherwise be obtained without a great waste of metal adjacentto the horizontal neutral axis of the bar. Our new invention consiststhen of this comparatively light and rigid upper member alfording anapproximately vertical bolting face, which at the same time joins themember itting'on top of the rail base at a point far enough out toprevent the latter from buckling. This latter feature is particularlyimpor* tant in the case of bars having depending point, and the fullbenefit of upper and lowerstiffening members of even moderate bulk havenot been attained, In our preferred form, having a free flange extendingbelow the rail base, our upper member of increased bulk enables us toconstruct a bar having comparatively light and rigidupper and lowermembers which are joined together'by a short foot member and at the sametime afford a vertical bolting face without the intervention of a bevelwasher. This vertical bolting face on the bar as rolled and the joiningof the upper and foot -members adjacent to the outer edge of therailbase have hitherto been partly attained by adding an excessiveamount of metal adjacent to the horizontal neutral axis of the bar,while the latter feature alone has been attained by the use of lightslanting members necessitating the use of bevel washers; but no lightand practicable bar has be fore been made which embodies both of thesefeatures together. This is alone accomplished by forming a substantiallyvertical outer face on the upper member, as shown in our drawings.

The reinforcement of splice bars beneath the base of the rail hasreceived too much attention in comparison with the equal necessity forstrength in the upper member. This improvement, then, is most eticientin distributing the metal at the greatest distance from the horizontalneutral axis of the bar, in providing` a vertical bolting face on thebar itself as rolled, and in general, in causing the various members ofthe bar to act with increased capacity a-nd without any tendency tobuckle or kiek partly out of contact with the top face of the rail base,all of which advantages enable us to make a comparatively lightpracticable bar, easy to roll, and which, as a constituent part of thestructure comprising a rail joint, makes it possible to construct a railjoint equaling any unbroken rail in vertical and lateral stiffness, andretaining at the same time a sufficient degree of reslliency to preventthe battering of the rail ends. T his has hitherto been attempted inmany ways but never before accomplished by the use of a suiicientlyreasonable amount of metal to be practicable. Our improvement, however,disposes metal se advantageously 'that our attainment of said result ispracticable both from the com mereial and the manufacturing standpoint.

fe claim:

l. In a rail joint, a splice bar having a head member whose greatesthorizontal thickness is adjacent to the horizontal plane of the tops of'the nuts of the joint bolts, a foot member fitting the base of the rail,and a web member joining the foot member adjacent to the middle point ofthe latter in a substantially narrow neck portion, said web memberhaving a substantially vertical outer face, which extends from the pointof greatest thickness of the head member down to and joining the upperface of the foot member, and an inner face inclined upwardly andinwardly from the foot member to the point of greatest thickness of thehead member, substantially as described.

- 2. In a rail joint, a splice bar havingr a head member whose greatesthorizontal' thickness is adjacent to the horizontal plane ot' the topsof the nuts of tht` joint bolts, a toot meluber fitting the base of therail, and a web member oining the foot member adjacent to the middlepoint of the latter in a substantially narrow neck portion, said webmember having a substantially vertical outer face, which extends fromthe point ot' great` est' thickness oitl the head member down to andjoining the upper face of the foot member. and an inner face inclinedupwardly and inwardly from the foot member to the point of greatestthickness ot' the head member, the thickness of the web member where itjoins the foot member being substantially equal to the thickness of thevrail web, substantially as described.

3. In a rail joint, a splice bar having a head member whose greatesthorizontal thickness is adjacent to the horizontal plane .of tbe tops ofthe nuts of the joint bolts, and

having a substantially vertical inner face adjacent to but standing treefrom the rail web, ya toot member fitting the base of the rail, and aweb member joining Athe foot member adjacent to the middle point ot thelatter in a substantially narrow neck portion, said web member having asubstantially vertical outer face, which extends from the point ofgreatest thickness of the head member down to and joiningv the upperface o't the foot member, and an inner face inclined upwardlyantllinwardly from the foot member to the point of greatest thickness ofthe head member, substantially as described.

4. In a rail joint, a splicebar having a head member whosev greatesthorizontal thickness is adjacent to the horizontal plane of the top's ofthe nuts of the joint bolts, a toot member fitting the base ot the rail,and a web member 'oining the toot member adjacent to the middle point ofthe latter in a substantially narrow neck portion, said web memberhaving a substantially vertical outer tace, which extends from the pointot greatest thickness of the head member down to and joining the uppert'ace of the 'foot memf ber, an inner tace inclined upwardly and ini l il l l l l wardly from the foot member to the point of greatest thicknessot: the head member, and another coacting splice bar atl the same sideof the rails, substantially as described.

' 5. In a rail joint, a splice bar having a head member whose greatesthorizontal thickness is adjacent to the horizontal lane of the tops ofthe nuts of the joint bolts, a foot member litting the base of the rail,and a web member joining the foot member adjacent to the middle pointofthe latter in a substantially narrow neck portion, said web memberhaving a substantially. vertical outer tace, which extends from thepoint ot' greatest'thickness of 'the head member down to and joining theupper face of the foot member, and an inner face inclined upwardly andinwardly from the foot member to the point otgreatest thickness of thehead member, the foot member having a' ptition extending below the railbase; substantially as described.

(l. In a rail joint, a splice bar having a head member whose greatesthorizontal thickness is adjacent to the horizontal plane of the topsofthe nuts ot the joint bolts, a foot member fitting the base of therail, and a web member joining the foot member adjacent to the middlepoint of the latter in a substantially narrow nec-k portion, said webmember having a substantially vertical outer tace, which extends fromthe point of greatest thickness of the head member down to and joiningthe upper face of the fool' member, and an inner face inclined upwardlyand inwardly from a point below the bolt holes to the point ot greatestthickness of the head member, substantially as described.`

ln testimonywhereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

WILLTAM l. lllUMSON SAMUEL (l. 'lllOMSON lVitnesses as to Wm. I).'lhomsonz H. ll. lA'rruusoN, Molucon 'l`1ro,\|soN.

Witnesses as to S. (l. 'l`homsou:

(l. l). PORTER, lVl. A. (lRAnssuu.

